A known class of consumer product is the pre-filled wine glass product.
The product is a sealed vessel in the shape of a drinking glass typically made of plastic. Thus even though the present specification makes reference to a “drinking glass” or “wine glass,” it is to be understood that the word “glass” is being used in the sense of a drinking vessel, irrespective of the material that the vessel is made from. As implemented in the prior art, the pre-filled wine glass product is sealed with a seal that is secured to the drinking rim adhesively—it typically being a metal foil seal sealed onto the rim using an induction seal process.
The wine glass itself may comprise a bowl having a stem connected to a pedestal base, in the familiar stemmed wine glass shape. An example of this, shown in FIG. 1a, is the single-serve pre-filled wine glass product currently marketed under the “The Italian Job” and “Le Froglet” brands, both of which use the so-called Tulip wine glass manufactured by Wine Innovations Ltd, of New Malden, Surrey, United Kingdom. In FIG. 1a, the foil seal is indicated at 8 and has a pull tab 8a. Other prior art pre-filled wine glass products have a tumbler-shaped glass. An example of this, shown in FIG. 1b, is the pre-filled wine glass product marketed under the “Copa di Vino” brand by Copa Divino of The Dalles, Oregon. The foil seal is not visible in FIG. 1b because this particular product is sold with a plastic overcap 9 which snaps onto the glass to overlay and thus protect the foil seal. A pull tab 9a of the foil seal does, however, protrude from underneath overcap 9.